For over 30 years, the Golden State Killer and the East Area Rapist has remained nameless until this morning. Joseph James DeAngelo has been arrested and is now in custody in Sacramento California. If you're not familiar with the EAR or the Golden State Killer, here's a quick history lesson.
From 1976 to 1986 the Golden State Killer had been linked to 12 different murders, nearly 50 sexual assaults and more than 120 home invasions by methods and a DNA match. Unfortunately due to the lack of advanced equipment, authorities were unable to conclusively convict someone....until now. The case went cold for quite sometime until Michelle McNamara published "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" which blew the case wide open all over again. McNamara was a crime fanatic, she immersed herself into many different unsolved crimes with the hopes of one day solving them. When the book was finally published, McNamara said that she'd hoped it would help to crack this case. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see the day the Golden State Killer was arrested as she recently passed away unexpectedly due to an un-diagnosed heart condition.
Who is this monster of a human being, you ask? A former veteran and police officer, 72 year old Joseph James DeAngelo eventually settled down in the suburbs of Citrus Heights, California. News crews have interviewed several of his neighbors who all said they would have never suspected this kind of behavior from him. They did note that when podcasts like "My Favorite Murder" began ramping up their theories and investigations about the EAR and Golden State Killer that DeAngelo began a firestorm of investigating on his own. Maybe to make sure he covered his tracks?
Officials say that DeAngelo is currently being held on two counts of "suspicion of murder" in two of the unsolved murders. Authorities have not 100% confirmed that this is their guy, but that it "looks good" as far as officially charging him with all counts of rape, murder and burglary.
Fox 40 in Sacramento will be live streaming the press conference from DeAngelo's home around 3pm our time.